Originally Posted By: LoneRanger
I have a relative who is naive about car stuff who's kid took their 2008 Ford Escape in for what was originally about $400 worth of service procedures on quote, and walked out paying $967.68 for extra non-essential [censored] that the service advisor up-sold them. About a grand worth of service on a car with a trade-in value of around $3500.... on a good day. Nice. Their kid's beater car but they let their kid take it in for the service appt. Bad idea. Not sure how some of these dealership service advisors sleep at night.
Feel free to ignore the following :
Details ????? What did they go in for ? What were they upsold on ?? What was the reason given for the extra services ??? Im sure not everything was needed, but the argument of the car only being $3500 is a moot one for such particular customer. A car is worth what it really is worth to the customer, ie. is it their only means of transport ? Is it their college student kid's car ? Is it something they depend on night and day ?
$3500 is a very black/white way of looking at the situation and this world is full of grey. They can go to a dealership, buy a car of $4500 and most probably buy another set of problems with it. At least by spending $1000, they ensure the longevity of a known enemy vs an unknown one ?
You have made several posts about bad experiences with the dealership in the past, Im sure that has helped none towards your affinity towards them. But coming from an industry where "upselling" is a fact of everyday business, where there is pressure from corporate everyday to increase flushes/alignments/brakes $ amounts, I can recall several vehicles which have been pulled into our shop for nominal repairs where tickets ended up being thousands of dollars because such an extent of repairs were needed. Not a single cent was an "upsell" but a recommendation based on diag of customer mentioned issues and general inspection of the vehicle.
For eg, if Mr. Smith brings his daughter's 2003 Impala to our shop for a $30 LOF svc, and we notice during our inspection that the serpentine belt is cracked, vehicle has 103k miles on it. You think im not going to recommend a belt replacement ?? Why ?? So he can come yell at me when the belt breaks on her in a couple of months on her way to school? All because that would be considered an upsell from an oil change ?? I'd rather hear a "NO" from a customer, than not offer to fix any issues with their vehicle. Not everyone is as knowledgeable about cars and their functions as your avg BITOGer. Some people genuinely need help and guidance in maintaining their vehicle. I believe this generalized hate towards Service Advisors is unwarranted for. Some if not most are decent honest people just trying to make some money helping customers maintain their vehicles. Im sure most/some of you will agree/disagree with my views here, just felt like someone had to say something "for" the service advisors, lol.